Fire Emblem: Unsung
by Mark-Kris Robin Lancer
Summary: I care nothing of saving the world, of being the hero nor the savior. Living seven years in your most favorite video game series does that to you. Yet somehow, like the unsung heroes before me, I pick up the lance against something nobody sees, for someone nobody cares for, against a foe that I do not know... (9000th FEA self-insert) Slight AU
1. Prologue

The weather was cold today.

A hooded man stood in front of an ancient castle lying in ruins, the wind howling in his ears as the air nipped wherever he was not covered up.

Shivering, he headed inside.

Out of the entire castle, only parts of the structure remained intact, with only a few of its towers still standing proudly against time. Carrying some wood, he took shelter underneath a section that still had a roof that was open on all sides and started a fire. Hugging himself, he shrugged off a long, wrapped package off of his back and hugged himself, breathing on his hands every once in a while.

Hearing whispers, he snapped his head around, trying to pinpoint its origin.

Nothing.

He sighed and turned back to his little camp. '_I'm starting to turn paranoid,'_ he thought to himself. It was just rumors that this land was haunted. Just rumors. Tales of wizened old ladies used to scare little children into behaving.

But he still couldn't shake off the existence of that whisper away.

And here it was again, whispering unintelligible nothings into the air.

The hooded man couldn't bear to take it any longer, and he stood up, yelling towards nobody, nothing, and nowhere in particular, "What do you want with me?!"

After moments of pregnant silence, when he really thought that he was going insane, the whisper began to spoke clearly. "_See._"

He paled and inched himself closer to the fire. "Who... who are you?!"

The voice sighed as a foggy form began to materialize out of thin air. "They called me the King of Kings then."

"The... King of Kings?!" He stopped, hugging the clothed package.

"Yes. And who might you be?"

"I... I'm nobody important. Just..." He unwrapped it. Inside laid an intricate sword, sharp as an angered tongue, the hilt covered with shadows-literally. Along with it was a golden grail, intricate and inlaid with several precious gemstones, fit for only a king of the highest order to drink out from. Taking away them all, a golden bow lay, crackling with lightening when he picked it up. "I need to store these somewhere. All of these."

However, the ghost of a king paid his words no heed, his "eyes" fixated at the golden bow. "You have... his bow?" He reached out to touch it, then suddenly snatched it from him and was somehow able to hold the bow, carefully inspecting it. "After all these years..." He closed his eyes and gave it back to the hooded man. "Destroy it."

He blinked in surprise. "What?"

"Destroy it. I will take care of the Sword of Souls and the Sacred Chalice myself, but you must destroy the Thunderbird Bow. No one else is to wield it. It was only meant for _him_." His voice was solemn and dark, regretful and sorrowful.

"Who is this 'him'?" the hooded man dared to ask, his voice slightly quivering in fear.

"He is like you, like my best knight, like many other heroes and heroines whose legacy and name will never know the glory of song. Funny how I am the one in charge of them. They simply like to call themselves..."

* * *

**A/N:**

**Is this a remake of my old self-insert fanfic? Yup. What is different? My irl friends won't be there, all Fate/Stay Night elements will be taken out (except for Jeanne D'Arc because she's fabulous), and I don't exactly know what to do with the Holy Grail. I will also be adding some new things... what things, I cannot tell you, for it will spoil the story for you. :3**

**Also, don't expect another update for at least half a year. I wanna upload a couple more things before returning to this, although I am writing some random parts of it down on old-fashioned pencil 'n paper for reference.**

**Ciao.**


	2. Arc I, Ch 1: Fire

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Fire Emblem series, Typemoon, and any elements, characters, settings and events involved. A large majority of the logic is headcanon. I simply own me and Romu.  
**

* * *

_**Arc I, Chapter 1: Fire**_

* * *

"Ava! Robin!"

I snapped up, in cold sweat and breathing heavily, crying out the names of whom I have traveled with for so long. It took me a while to notice that I had my knife in my hand as well.

Silence.

I put the knife back under the pillow and brought both hands to cover my face, letting the forced darkness wash over me and calm me down. Of course, it never works as I choke back dry sobs.

I've never been so alone ever since my leave from home back when I was twelve... there was always Ava and Robin... and other friends I made along the way as well... there was always at least one other person with me at all times...

Except for now, when I needed someone the most.

_**But you are not alone... I am here, do you not remember?**_

Ignoring the malicious voice, I slowly got up from the bed. These sudden midnight wake-ups had been going on ever since Robin had went missing. Two weeks... two weeks...

I grabbed two lances and went outside of the inn I was staying in.

Fortunately, this one inn was considerate enough to put out homemade practice dummies for anyone who would need it whenever they want to. Under the moonlight of the waxing gibbous, I was absolutely alone.

I had no want to be alone.

_**But you are not, dear human...**_

Growling, I stabbed at the dummies.

Time flew by as grief was left temporarily forgotten, replaced by stern memories of the commands of a prince, a general, a man trapped in the midst of a country once his friend.

_Balance. Grace. Timing. Focus. Accuracy. Momentum._

Why did I bring two lances out anyways? This was usually the time to practice the old, not invent the new.

This continued on for a few more hours until both mind and body were too exhausted to handle any more. I laid down on the dirt, not caring for the dust getting onto my medium-long black hair, my equally black eyes scanning the night sky. It's remarkable, how much the lands could change within just 2,000 years, and yet the skies hardly ever change.

I smiled a bittersweet smile, remembering the innocent times when the man that was technically no more than a boy that found me, saved me, and restored me would point out the stars for me.

I'm still a catastrophe with star-gazing though.

Bringing up a hand to my eyes, I breathed deeply, catching my breath and suddenly feeling exhausted, and still very, very alone.

_"But don't you know? This is our fate, as the Others. We are always alone, and always meant to be alone..."_

The image of a blond man in black with cold amber eyes and a sharp tongue inside a constant frown who had rather quite warm hugs came to mind. He was the same man who has flown on airplanes and walked on concrete and listened to the radio and played Gaiden with his brother before... everything to him happened.

Despite that dark coldness, he brought a rather good feeling of familarity since he was just like me, Katrina, and Ava, Robin's mother, so many others, that _were _Others.

Except while I was in Ylisse (or, more accurately, Plegia), he is long gone and dead in the ground of wherever his home was... and speaking of dead...

Before I could stop myself, the scene of darkness and a mother's love at her dying breath came back, her beautiful face the last thing we saw before running away in fear, in tears.

And even then, Robin had somehow disappeared soon after, leaving me truly all alone for the first time in my life. I still absolutely refused to believe that he was actually captured by them.

It was what Robin and I hated the most: the sheer feeling of weakness and helplessness involved with being captured, being stuck in a tiny cell and able to do nothing but listen to crying children and the forboding voices of the guards, the crackle of dark magic as someone prepared to sacrifice to a dark dragon god...

If I would dare say, Ylisse is almost a parallel to that ancient hellhole that was once a vast and beautiful land, or so the adults said.

I yawned and stood up, shuffling back inside the inn and crashing onto the bed, letting the sheer bliss of sleep overtake me once again.

The heavy weight in my mind caused by the malicious voice still refused to go away.

* * *

_Did I actually succeeded in killing myself, and that these journeys are but my afterlife?_

_I stared at the face of twelve-year-old me, who had an eternal look of ultimate gloom and sadness set upon her face that would have been pretty if she smiled more and maybe exercised more and stopped secretly hoarding chocolate and playing Kid Icarus: Uprising and Fire Emblem: Awakening at the dead of night._

_Even though we were vastly different, that I was more confident and stronger than she, that I was able to smile more and think more maturely and be less self-centered, we still shared the same fears:_

_Abandonment, complete darkness, failure, speaking out, leading, rebelling._

_The strikes at her wrist still bled floods of crimson blood, while mine has scarred over into nothing more but a line that nobody could really notice._

_The girl in body and dead in heart who pretended to be a Christian simply said, "I am forever dead."_

_The woman in body and girl in heart who pretended to be agnostic simply replied, "I am forever alive."_

_"How could you still bear to retain such hope?" She asked me with an accusing tone._

_"How could you still bear with your self-centered pity-party, focusing on only your own struggles and not the cries of others who need it more than you ever will?"_

_She stayed silent afterwards, not able to talk back at me._

_And yet I had no guilt._

_"Do you regret killing yourself?" I asked her._

_"Do you regret killing others?" She asked me._

_I stayed in silence afterwards, not able to talk back at her._

* * *

Leaf.

And so, with just the single, simple though of that shred of my life, I don't wake up screaming in the mornings.

_**Ah... time for some fresh, new blood!**_

Did I ever mention that I hate skull-splitting headaches from rather obnoxious draconic figures?

_**Fucking rude, human. I can crush your mind and drive you to insanity right here and now-**_

'But you won't do it because I am essential to everything so your plans for utter world destruction may succeed and thus my mental stability as a pawn of yours matter, correct?'

_**... I can still kill everyone that matters to you.**_

'Which is Robin. And there's a very good reason why you can't kill Robin, correct?'

_**I will tear you slowly asunder until you beg and scream for the release of death from me, and yet I will still torture you so... No... wait...**_

The voice turned quiet, much more quiet...

_**As I am Grima, if I could give Robin total amnesia, and thus forget all about you... surely I can make you forget all about the one you care the most for?**_

I grimaced.

_**Then the very least you can do is show a little bit more respect.**_

'Fine.'

It was too much for me to talk with this Grima, the Grima 1,000 years after first exalt of Ylisse, Exalt Mordred. He was much more threatening, more unreasonable, more angry, more bitter...

Needless to say, I hated it.

I rose from the bed and stretched and yawned. It wasn't too early in the morning, and already everything seemed so loud.

Strangely enough, there was a mirror in the room that I was currently residing in, a rarity for inns in Plegia, as far as I know. I looked over, just to see if I was presentable enough for the outside world. Still medium-short, still possessing a medium-big figure (having exchanged all of my fat for muscle a long time ago), my hair still black and juuust long enough to tie it in a tiny ponytail maybe a few inches long. I slept in my clothes, as usual, the black tunic and tanned pants a bit wrinkled up, but that was fine.

Putting on my boots, belt, and lance-holder-sheathe-thing and picking up my supplies, I walked downstairs towards the innkeeper and gave him what I owed for the night. I winced at what few expenses I had left. Time to go job-searching again.

The streets were quite lively even so early as I stepped out and walked amongst the people. Some of them threw questioning glances at my possession of a regular iron lance and a shorter iron lance, but I ignored them as I continued along on my way. As usual, nothing in particular really stood out.

I walked into a nearby tavern and hoped for the best for breakfast as I put some money on the counter. "A breakfast for one, sir. Surprise me, and would you happen to have any apple cider?"

Several minutes later, I was slowly eating a plate of hot, steaming food, a tankard of the apple cider right next to me as the bartender quietly wiped down the counters.

"So, miss, traveling alone?" He asked suddenly. I nodded, taking a drink from the cider. "I'm looking for an old friend," I replied. "White hair, pale skin, red eyes, wearing a huge, heavy and dark cloak, pretty skinny yet is rather good with swords and magic?"

"Nope, sorry." He shook his head and shrugged a bit, choosing to stand in front of me. "Just keeping watch over ya. I saw some leerin' eyes already. Keep careful alone."

_**ExcUSE ME?! Last time I remember, I take full responsibility-**_

I wish he had a mute button.

"It's okay, I'm fine." Those sorts of looks hardly bother me anymore. Why worry about them when there's more important things to worry about, like for example, searching for both jobs and my bestie, this weirdo dragon in my head, death-mauling bears, making sure I'm eating properly every day... You get the idea.

_**I get all of your ideas. Quite literally, in fact.**_

At least it would be almost impossible for me to be bored.

Finishing my breakfast, the bartender took the empty plates and mug as I pushed myself off the bar and onto the floor, grabbing my two lances propped up and walked out of the door.

Well, I've spent too much time here in this town already. I needed to move on and keep on looking... might come back here though. It is a nice place.

And so, I walked onwards on the sandy road ahead, towards the Halidom of Ylisse in search for a future amnesiac tactician before he gets amnesia...

* * *

She suspects nothing. Nothing at all. In the darkness of night, when she expects sleep to befall on herself... Grima wakens inside her.

Her body moves, her consciousness left behind. He knows exactly where he is, following the allure of his brand.

He doesn't ever question why and how he was able to possess her like this. He considers it as a stroke of pure luck, although he does keep wary of this sudden development.

Her body found him situated on a tree above, nestled in the crook between the massive branches. If she was there, she would remember his mother, who was also her guardian, teaching them how to sleep within the foliage of safety, away from any possible pursuers. But she has not woken yet, and he retains all of the memories that she contains.

From previous experience, he knows that there will be no change to her/his voice, physically, which is rather good.

"Robin. Psst. Are you awake? It's me, Katrina!"

His head turned up, awake from his slumber, and looked below him. He had the hood down, looking up.

It was too dark to see, but he could feel his smile of joy. "Kat!" Jumping down, he embraced the body. "I... I was looking for you for so long... I got captured but I managed to get away, and so I was really lucky... What about you?"

"I was looking for you, idiot. What else?" he smiled just a bit. With the brand so close to the soul... Robin would feel the same comfort in his presence like he would with his mother, wouldn't he?

The young man laughed softly from joyed and we pulled away. "Well, you're here, and I'm wide awake already! Do you have camp somewhere?"

He shook her head. "I was desperate enough to sleep in the morning and do my best to pull through the evening." If Robin could see her, her features would seem not tired at all. "Don't worry about me. Let's go to Ylisse!"

Robin nodded and faithfully, followed behind him, suspecting nothing at all.

Going through a specifically darker part of the forest, where no moonlight reaches, Robin suddenly reaches for her hands, grasping onto it tightly. "It's... different without Mom. She knows everything... We would walk alone, proudly and without fear in the midst of enemy territory behind her, remember? Remember that one time we went on a spy mission ahead back in Doluna? She was so amazing..."

... How was Grima to reply to this? He simply held on back, chuckling lightly. "I know."

This seemed to be enough, as his vessel was silent once again.

A great deal of distance remained to Southtown, if he remembers correctly, but no matter. He turned around and dealt a harsh blow onto Robin's head before he could react, the last thing he could express was the shock on his face as he fell.

Grima could have almost smiled in victory.

He lifted a hand to his forehead. Any recollection from her of what exactly happened was fuzzy and incomprehensible to him, but that is alright.

All he truly needed was for him to forget.

That and return Katrina her body before she wakes up.

* * *

Traveling again. How mundane.

One step after another, breathing, my lances sometimes put away, sometimes out and swung around out of sheer boredom. A lot of times, I drop them. Those are the times where Grima laughs, and while I usually would laugh along, his laughs were like the harsh barks of beasts, untamed in a way that was not graceful or natural.

In order to stave off my boredom, I did whatever I could, whatever it be reading my still-fresh flux tome or looking around the scenery.

I must have passed an unguarded part of the Plegian-Ylissean border, as sometime during my very long, lone march of sorts, the atmosphere began to seem cooler, lighter, and brighter, the tension not strung so tight as it would be in the semi-arid region of Plegia I was previously on.

It was while I was reading and Grima probably "sleeping" when I crashed right onto some other poor traveler.

We both shouted in pain as we doubled back, my hand instinctively going to my longer lance. I heard a sword unsheathing and stepped back, pointing my lance at...

Chrom?

"Prince Chrom?"

He groaned and slumped over, a look of utter despair appearing. "WHYYYYYY?!" He shouted out, seemingly screaming at the ground... nope, he's facing the sky now.

I blink in utter confusion, raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"I'm. Not. Chrom. The end. Are we going to fight now?"

"I hope not. You seem like an okay-enough guy."

We stared at each other for a few moments before he shrugged and sheathed his sword away as I did the same with my lance and tome.

"But... uh... May I have an explanation please? I mean..." Now that I looked... this man looked eerily alike to the Ylissean prince, but his more slender body and commoner outfit did all of the guesswork for me. (Ignore the fact that he wears a white, ragged cloak. Hush.)

Yup, not the Prince of Dorks, as far I can remember at least. Stupid husbando. Stop trying to marry me whenever I played Fire Emblem: Awakening back when I was 12, gosh darn it.

"I look like Chrom, but I'm not actually him. Surprise surprise, I know. Call me Romu." He held out his hand, smiling in a way that makes you sort of wary that he might try haggling an overpriced item with you and get all of your hard-earned coin before you can lift a single finger but is otherwise trustworthy elsewhere. Yup, _definitely_ not Chrom.

I took the hand and shook it, smiling back. "I'm Katrina, no nickname required."

"Cool."

Once you realized that he wasn't Chrom, you would immediately realize that Romu is not at all like Chrom, in a way. He was smoother, in a way, his speech more thought-out and eloquent. He had the atmosphere of a person that would prefer to stand back and watch as a wallflower than to get heated and involved in a conflict. His body might be slimmer, but I knew from the handshake that he was no slacker. He probably packed some lean muscles under his clothing.

... That came out wrong, didn't it?

Our hands dropped as we awkwardly stood there for a few more minutes before he cleared his throat. "Ahem! Well... I was traveling for quite a long time but I'm afraid I'm lost... Would you happen to know the direction to Southtown? I'm picking up something over there before heading to the capital."

"Yeah... you're going in the opposite direction of where you want to go, for example."

I thought his eyes were about to fall out of his sockets as I laughed at his shock expression, and soon the two of us were laughing along to what we didn't quite remember anymore. It was very comforting, being able to laugh like this after such a long time, not since so much has happened. It's here that I miss the quiet joy of the Library, the hum of minds turning while Robin and I sat and listened to tacticians argue with generals and the two of us were learning, our eagerness to try and try and try again...

"Hey, Katrina. How about we travel together?" Romu suddenly asked. "The roads are being more and more dangerous nowadays, and I've heard rumors of war."

"Why not? Besides, I'm looking for a friend there as well: white hair, pale skin, red eyes, a young guy looking like my age and is pretty good with swords and magic..." I trailed off, my hopes already falling as Romu began to pull of what I can only guess is his thinking position.

"Hm... Unless you know one of _my _friends, I don't think so."

I sighed. "Well, let's go-"

"But you know dark magic? That's so cool!"

I looked at him in disbelief as his eyes shone with wonder. "I'm hopeless with learning any magic except for may some healing if I really try, but gods! Dark magic is so interesting! How much do you know?"

Well, this will definitely be an interesting trip.

_**What the hell did I just wake up to?**_

'Shut up, I'm about to talk.'

"Well, another student of dark magic taught me. In all honesty, I use it more as a fail-safe in case I become too injured to use my arms to stab with a lance. Besides, it is pretty fun, but like with all magic, you need to be careful with it." We began walking as I started talking. Romu was a great listener, paying close attention to what I said.

At one point, he brought up the topic of curses. I shook my head. "I'm not too well-versed in those. The best I know is some simple dark magic, like Flux. Maybe I can pick up Nosferatu one day, but my progress is rather slow since I concentrate more on my lancing. It's alright though. Light magic is practically dead, and dark magic is effective against anima magic."

Romu nodded. "How about healing wounds and injuries from dark magic?"

"Well... I don't know too much about it... All I know that while anima magic deals outside physical damage to one's body and light magic deals some sort of internal physical damage, dark magic is more concentrated to ruin the opponent's body long-term, or so I was taught. It's actually a foreign study, and I don't think Ylisse would really know of it. Besides, I don't exactly know all of that stuff and I hate giving the wrong information out."

Romu nodded in understanding.

* * *

We camped at night in a forest. I gladly let Romu start the fire as I found food for the two of us. Some ptarmigans should do. And roasted ones as well? Heck yes!

I cooked as we sat around the fire. I could literally hear Grima sneering at Romu, growling, all of the ill-intent making me twitch to hit something. Darn dragon. Sit down, shut up, and enjoy the night. What did he ever do to you?

_**Existing.**_

'Haha, hilarious. Just like the rest of humanity, I assume?'

_**No. He's... worse, I guess I should say. I loathe him. He's too cheery. Maybe you should make him scream in fear or pain or whatever. That would be much better. Maybe slash his face while you're at it. It disgusts me.**_

'A friendly reminder that I am not a very intimidating person, and I don't enjoy hurting people like that.'

_**Have you ever seen your regular face when you're not being annoying? You would not blend in with Ylisse at all.**_

'Stop sounding like Grandma.'

As the bird turned the perfect shade of brown, I flipped it around. The delicious aromas seemed to cover everything. Wonderful. We are now potential bear bait.

Fun.

"Are you Chon'sinian?" Romu suddenly asked.

I shrugged. "Maybe. I wouldn't know, seeing as I don't even know where I was born. I've been traveling around my whole life, " I said, repeating the same thing over and over again with each person that I come across and ask me for my life story.

Ironic how I say that but I don't know much about the continent of Ylisse and that other continent... what was it called... Balm? I tend to forget minor details like that from seven years or so ago. Plegia's pretty cool though.

"Wow. That's exciting."

"Pretty much so. You could say that my adoptive mom was Plegian, and so is her son. He and I are best friends, so that's why I'm looking for him now," I say, a bit wistful.

"... Did something happen?" He sure likes asking questions.

"Her name was Ava. She died not too long ago. She and her son are prosecuted by the Grimleal, and since I tagged along, I'm a target as well."

"Oh... I'm sorry."

I rolled my eyes. "It's not your fault."

"Sorry for bringing it up."

I smiled, the roast birds perfect for eating as I lifted the rack up. "Be careful."

"Pfft, I know."

We ate in silence. Romu didn't talk for the duration of our meal, except comment how good my cooking was.

Thanks, Ava.

I gathered the bones up as Romu did so right at the same time. He raised an eyebrow at me, smiling widely. "Are you doing what I think you're doing?"

"Well... Gotta help Mother Nature and all." I couldn't help grinning back. This guy is amazing.

We began digging a hole under a tree and buried the bones there.

Scored kin today!

We cleared up some more ground around our site. Romu offered first watch, which I rejected and we both began to argue who would take charge until he finally somehow gave in and let me watch over the camp.

It must have been well into midnight when Grima suddenly piped up.

_**I can feel it. It's almost time. **_

'Time for what?'

_**You know this damn story! You're the one who revealed it to me.**_

Unwillingly. But I do have to admit, I know what he was talking about. There was a strange hum of magic in the air. It's strangely reminiscent of the aura of a Gate...

_**Yes... Yes...**_

Oh no. It's already began... and if that's the case...

I'm too late.

I went over to Romu, shaking him lightly, but urgently. "Hey, wake up."

He grumbled and ignored me. So much for being macho and insisting to watch first.

"Look, you really need to wake up now-"

Everything fell apart.

Literally.

I lost my balance kneeling next to Romu and fell _hard_ on my side, yelling out a rare "fuck" as Romu immediately jolted awake. He was still half-asleep and probably very confused.

I just needed him to be awake.

I grabbed our packs and weapons, shoving his sword into his hands.

That seemed to wake him up.

"Quickly! Run! NOW!"

"But where?"

The earth answered for us. Right where we came from (probably)... I didn't want to look, but hues of red ran everywhere in my right peripheral vision. That was more than I needed or wanted.

_**Gotta go fast!**_

'Shut UP!'

Romu and I ran as fast as we could away from it, fires launching everywhere in the black, smoky sky.

_"There was fires everywhere, she said. It was terrifying, screaming and death reigned everywhere... oh good Baldo, that was a horrible pun."_

The smoke was too fast, the earth quicker than our feet, and we found ourselves vaulting over growing chasms.

Fire, fire, fire, fire, everywhere, we couldn't escape it all, enveloping everything in the world, my hands, my feet, arms, head, blisters, red, wounds-

"Katrina, it's okay! We're away!"

The earth hates me, so does the world, because of who I am, because of what I am, killing me with fire, other's lives' fires evaporating my life's meager puddle of water, the heatwaves, heatstroke, burning, smoke like the smoke of cigarettes filling my lungs-

"KATRINA!"

A different smoke.

My breathes were too shallow, too quick, my heartbeat racing by at impossible speeds...

Oh right. The Risen.

But isn't fire the more dangerous enemy?

I... I need to protect Romu.

"I-I-I-"

"It's okay. We're far from the fires."

There's still smoke, and everything was still red.

"Look at the sky. Count the stars. Everything will be okay."

He's right. The stars are very pretty, very calm.

"You probably didn't see it, but... I don't know how to explain it..."

"No. It's okay. I know."

No time to explain all of that. I readied my lance, eyeing the lumbering bodies heading towards us.

"Romu, don't deal shallow injuries with them. Do your best to either cut off limbs or deal a fatal blow to them, whatever they are."

If it were another time, he probably would have asked me how I knew all of this information, seeing that he loves to ask questions, but right now isn't the most appropriate time to do so.

A lance-wielding Risen, having the garb of a soldier, charged and thrusted at me. Romu and I dodged it, both of us twisting to opposite sides. I dared not look anywhere else except for my target. I swung the lance a bit lower than the center of its head, probably only succeeding to graze its face. It was a bold move, one that would have endangered if the Risen was fast enough. Fortunately, I got away free with it and jumped back just in time as it aimed a thrust straight for my chest. Using my own lance to knock its bronze one away, I tackled it down and stabbed it in the face, getting back up and repositioning the lance to stab it again. And again.

One down, several more to go.

I looked back at my blue-haired companion right as he finished off another. "Bad fighting," he joked.

"I'm tired and I want to sleep, okay?"

"Well, I just woke up, and I still feel a bit groggy, and yet I'm fighting better than you."

I rolled my eyes, inhaled deeply, and charged blade-first at an archer before it could nock an arrow, nicking his arm. It stumbled back before getting close again and beat me on the head with the end of its bow.

That. Hurt.

I shook my head, the pain and aching only worsening as I instinctively dropped to the ground, an arrow flying past me, close enough that I could hear its whistle. Groaning, I stood back up as fast as possible, using my lance to reach out and trip it before dancing to the side and letting a sword miss its mark. I grabbed whatever the Risen had on it and used as much strength as I could spare to throw it onto the archer before reaching over and stab them. One groan and a small 'poof' of finality told me that one was dead. Another stab ensured that the other would join its friend.

Thank you adrenaline for not making my head hurt as much as it should be hurting.

"Help!"

I looked over at the direction of the voice, the high of fighting clouding my thoughts, and at first I saw five Risen all grouping up.

Strange.

And then there was the blue, yellow and brown of a man's outfit, and a split-second of thinking lead my brain to a conclusion, but not before my body reacted first and swept aside one of the enemy.

Red on blue. Not a good sign.

I got in front of Romu as he brought out a vulnerary and downed a third of the bottle as quickly as he could. "You 'kay?"

"Fine enough," I breathed out, shoving him aside and parrying a sword away. An arrow launched at us, sticking itself right above Romu's head, too close for comfort. Another sword, maybe the same one, sliced at the shaft of my lance. It was unsuccessful, slicing only air as I quickly moved it out of the way.

"Got any spares?"Romu asked.

"Just a shorter lance that I can't throw and a knife. And a dark tome," I listed off, the both of us dodging away from an ax.

"Get behind me and use the tome."

_**Good luck using that.**_

Ignoring the stupid dragon in my head, I obeyed Romu and began enchanting, casting a spell. He had managed to dispose of another Risen as I blasted a Flux on what appears to be a myrmidon.

It had about the effect as a pebble thrown at a bear.

Angered, it swung down at the two of us, dodging at opposite sides before stabbing at it. We weren't very successful, so we then circled to the back of the tree and continued backing up.

"Well, we now know that dark magic has near to no effect on these... these things?" Romu nervously laughed.

"Are you kidding me? I've fought a few times with people stronger than them, and my dark magic does more than just _annoy_ a monster."

"Or maybe they're made from dark magic? I don't know though, that blue thing didn't seem evil to me at all."

Did I forget that Risen could be conjured from dark magic? Yes I did. Wow. I just forgot an important plot point. That's like forgetting the Blood Pact, or the Darksphere, or the Dark Stone, or the Loptuous tome...

A sudden battle cry jolted us from our theorizing, and immediately, one of the Risen was felled. Or at least, I think so. The archer was probably gone now, thank God. Taking advantage of the Risens' split attention, I stabbed out as many times as I could, managing to get what was most likely a bandit's chest before he could turn around again. Next to me, Romu had made quick work off of the myrmidon, and we jumped back around the tree and together attacked the last remaining one.

Wasn't there supposed to be five?

A dark flash of blue managed to save Romu from being decapitated, the groaning of the Risen thankfully the last of them all.

However, I soon recieved a sword to my throat. "Hold it there."

I dropped my bloodied lance and held my hands up, looking to my side.

The person standing next to me wore blue, blue, and a bit more blue at that, her figure thin, wearing a butterfly-like mask with golden trimming. Falchion was unsheathed, close to drawing blood.

_**Ugh. That damn thing. Can't you feel its heat? It's ABSOLUTELY unbearable!**_

'You're sleeping smack dab in the middle of a desert and you're complaining about the heat of a holy sword?! I still have yet to clarify on whether you're from the future or from this time.'

_**I'm the present one, of course. It's rather sad that the future me had to go through all of that waiting to get what he wanted.**_

'Can you please bring the topic of world decimation to somewhere else that isn't my head?'

_**The abominable girl is talking to you.**_

"-Not hear me?" Her voice was kept low enough to pass as androgynous, at worst. A rather fine job posing as a male, as far as I can see.

Yes, this is Lucina, and it more or less seems like she wants to kill me.

This reminds me too much of that time Volke had me pinned me to a wall, ready to slit my throat with Ike's say-so... and the right amount of money.

"S-Sorry, what?"

"The man next to you had stated his name already! Who are you?"

"Look, miss, I'm okay with you threatening her, but if you cut an inch off of her hair, may Naga help me, I'll make sure to make your life as miserable as possible," Romu warned, taking a step forward. His hand was still gripping onto his bloodied iron sword, definitely ready to defend me. Lucina seemed to be a bit surprised at his usage of a female pronoun. Man, Romu sure is a really cool guy.

I haven't had this feeling in a long while.

"I'm Katrina. Does that answer any questions?"

Having no idea what look Lucina had as she continued to face me, I began to feel mildly panicky. What did I do wrong, break out of jail that one time in Manster? Couldn't properly protect a convoy that one time in Etruria or something because I was a fifteen-year-old that was horrible at hacking with a sword? Or is this all about that one time I chopped down a tree back in Ram Village? The world definitely can't be faulting me for keeping a couple of secrets for Lyon and Marth, right?

"Where do you come from? What's your religion?" she continued to inquire.

"I'm pretty sure I'm from Chon'sin and I pray to a God foreign to these lands." Oh no, not this talk of prosecuting people of a certain religion again...

_**Hey, this was what the Grimleals' felt back at the time. And the Lopt Sect, while we're at that.**_

'Look, as interesting as it is, any sort of religious prosecution is a topic that I hate to even start to think about poking, so I'd much rather you shut up and be more productive, like... I don't know, cut off all ties with me including this weird mental connection where we can talk back and forth with our minds?'

_**Sure. Sure.**_

The sword was lowered, thank God.

"So it isn't time yet..."

"Hm?"

She sighed and finally put Falchion back in its scabbard. "Just be careful. Both of you, but especially you, Miss Katrina. Be wary of gaining any influence from the Grimleals."

Huh?

"Well, since you know both of our names, shouldn't it only be fair that you tell us your name as well?" Romu asked. Thank you for asking all of the important questions that I will forget to ask so you make us look less suspicious.

"... You may call me Marth."

Dang. Just like the script too, if I remembered correctly.

"That's a man's name," Romu pointed out. She only shrugged her shoulders in return.

Still, with her stating that her name is Marth... I tried not to cringe as noticeably as possible. "Well... this was interesting... Marth. Hopefully I won't have my head cut off the next time we meet," I say. Oops, said the wrong thing. I tried to smile awkwardly a bit, but it was obvious that she was not impressed.

Do I look Plegian? Do I look like I would kneel and bow down and chant weird things in front of Grima the moment I see him and worship his evil name?

_**Sadly, no. Maybe one day... Maybe one day...**_

I didn't have the mental capacity to retort something smart back. I'm done fighting for today, I'm tired, I'm a bit hungry and thirsty too now that I think about it, and most of all, I need sleep. Now.

...

After we get far, far away from the fires, then yes, I'll sleep.

"Well, have a less eventful day. And watch out for yourself. Actually-" Romu probably wanted to travel with her for a bit simply out of concern.

"I will travel alone."

Since when was she this... what's the term... edgy? Yeah, let's go with that.

He sighed. "Alright. Safe journeying."

She nodded and walked off.

I looked at Romu tiredly. "Are we going to Southtown, or..." I trailed off. At this point, I don't care where we go, as long as I can sleep somewhere properly for the day, or else I may end up sleepwalking or whatever.

"No... with these going around, I'm heading back to Ylisstol. I guess I can still drop you off at Southtown, but..."

I shrugged and sighed. "I'm still concerned for said friend, but he can take care of himself."

"Not if they group up like that all the time."

"Hm... true." I know exactly what happens to Robin, however... "But he's smart enough to travel along with a group if he can. I remember him telling me that our final destination would be Ylisstol, so maybe if I go there, there might be a possibility that we meet up..."

Romu smiled."Great plan! Which means..."

"You're still stuck with boring ol' me," I joked, walking sleepily aside him was we headed for the capital.

"Pfft. As if!"

* * *

At the end, we both gave up and crashed under a tree later on in the morning, too tired to go on. With such little sleep and such an intense event so early in the day, it really does a bad number on the human body.

And yet, even though I'm so tired, I can't fall asleep.

Robin. He's pretty much my second brother at this point, having grown up with me all these years with his mom, Ava, who's now pretty much my other mom as well.

And... Ava's now dead, gone now for two months or so. Killed by the Grimleal for concealing Robin's presence all this time, betraying them, deserting them... there's probably a thousand more charges against her, all that are justified, and properly so. It was so sudden as well, her death happening just hours after we came back from Akaenia, Schism-time. We were surrounded on all sides by that cult... she had even warned us that we will be prosecuted...

She has survived everything with us, and yet it was only then did she ever die.

She's amazing. Her tactical knowledge was over the charts and she fought like a demon, all for the sake of Robin and I. She taught us almost everything we know and brought us to rather fantastical journeys to other times and other continents beyond my limited knowledge of Ylisse through playing Awakening.

I had no idea that there were _that_ many Fire Emblem games.

It was there in those various continents that Robin and I enhanced our skills and learned new ones. While he learned from the tacticians, Aless taught me of the Others (people from my world who get stuck in the Fire Emblem worlds, whether in their own bodies or in other character's bodies), Ephraim taught me how to fight with a lance (and together we helped each other learn dual-lancing, step by step, teaching ourselves), Pelleas taught me how to use dark magic, Marth revealed to me the existence of Arch-Magic and Arch-Dragons, and Mark told me of the malicious, violent Pranas.

I even learned a new skill; or rather, Ava, Robin and I unearthed a hidden skill within me, something that we dub as "tactical forecasting". With refinement over the years, once I learn of a plan, it will take me a minute, tops, to tell what would as precisely as possible happen within the next ten steps, enabling tacticians to formulate and revise plans with my calculations. Most of the time, they're 100% accurate. And if they're not... well, in my line of work, error is unnacceptable. If I miss even one detail... so many will die.

I'm still not sure how it happens. It just... does. Ava told me it was a combination of an active, logically thinking imagination and a series of inductive reasoning. Coupled with Robin's genius strategizing, we were a perfect duo, as if made for each other. But now, with Robin's amnesia...

I still don't understand some of these things, but at the same time... at a certain level, I really do.

Ava was an Other as well, as well as Aless, Quan, Marthe, me, and probably several others (not another pun) who chose to keep their existence a secret. However, to Ava, Ylisse is her home.

Traveling so much, I consider all the worlds as my homes. Cliche, I know, but it really does feel that way. I love being on the road, with no specific destination in mind except for the nearest army with plans to learn and learn and learn... Robin and I loved learning anyways, so it was wonderful.

Still, they had to start from somewhere.

I didn't have to look, already knowing that right on my wrists, where an artery could be easily pierced, there are light scars, a reminder of the decision I made to give up, thinking that that previous life was hard enough already, only feeling the negative and also false expectations of perfection and not understanding the love of my family and what few friends I had, being selfish and not considering the fact that... if I left, won't I leave behind pain greater than that I felt as of then?

It took me so long from that time when I was 12 to regain my old, regular child-like self back. Right from the start when Marth saw me dying on a field of poppies and brought me to a medic tent, panicking and worried for a life of a stranger child, he did all he could to teach me how to smile again, to deal with stress and let go of worries.

Did I really had to suicide to relearn the simplest thing a human can do, to just _smile?_ Man, I sure was pathetic.

I'm better now. Way better. I still have my flaws and faults, my sadness and temporary emptiness, but that's all it is now: temporary.

I'm sorry for taking my life... I feel as if this is like my second chance, to take back my mistakes and make myself a better person.

I smiled to myself, and finally, I got the sleep that I desperately need.

* * *

**A/N:**

**I lied and posted this four/five months after the expected due date. Good job. And I genuinely thank anyone who is still keeping track of this fanfiction for some reasons I cannot understand.**

**But oh man, it's been far too long since I've written something so long, since all I've actually been doing over the summer is help out at my dad's store and roleplay. And as a note: don't get anywhere near Tumblr. Ever. **

**So, since I'm back on this business and am joining in too late on the FEA-SI bandwagon since I first thought up of this stupid thing nearly two years ago, I'd really, really appreciate it if I received some genuine feedback. I can't give any promises on update schedules because I wrote out the first part, left it alone for months, and typed out the rest during the last few days because I needed an excuse not to do science homework. Please don't be afraid to send in whatever you're still confused about or what I didn't elaborate enough on. It'll serve as a great checklist for this fanfic.**

**Ciao!**

**4/10/2015 Edit: I marked my direct responses to Grima with apostrophes , like 'Hi, you're a jerk, please go away, Grima'.**


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